Autodesk 2014 fuels manufacturing innovation

Autodesk has unveiled new digital prototyping software that offers manufacturers unprecedented access to the Autodesk portfolio — spanning the desktop and cloud — to more efficiently design, build and deliver better products faster at reduced costs.

The Autodesk design suites geared especially for manufacturers include Autodesk Product Design Suite and Autodesk Factory Design Suite. The suites provide designers and engineers with a complete set of tools and cloud services to simplify design, visualization and simulation workflows from product development through delivery. Additionally, Autodesk’s 2014 Simulation software portfolio delivers a faster, more accurate and flexible approach to predicting, optimizing and validating designs earlier in the design process.

“Autodesk 2014 suites provide manufacturers with affordable access to the best tool for the task at hand,” said Robert “Buzz” Kross, senior vice president, Design, Lifecycle and Simulation at Autodesk. “For our customers, this translates into increased productivity and a faster path to ROI.”

The debut of Autodesk ReCap, new reality capture software and cloud services that create intelligent 3D models of physical objects and environments and allows customers to bring the actual job site into their design process;

Autodesk Inventor software enhancements that incorporate, among other benefits, increased scalability for extremely large product or factory assemblies; and

New for the Premium edition of Product Design Suite 2014 is the inclusion of Autodesk Inventor Professional software, which provides mechanical and electrical engineers the functionality for complete Digital Prototyping with integrated simulation, control systems and tooling capabilities.

“In 2012, EnviroGuard was able to win several large projects both domestically and internationally using Autodesk Product Design Suite,” said Tanya Bradford, general manager of EnviroGuard, an industry leader in spill containment and facility safety. “We were able to design unique systems built to specification, render the designs in 3D with Product Design Suite and show the results to clients and engineering firms via online, web-based tools. The end result is they approved the designs, and we ultimately won the bids.”

Additional new features for the 2014 suite include powerful annotations, an expanded factory assets library and improved point cloud workflows to capture the as-is state of a factory. The suite also provides enhanced integration of Autodesk Vault product data management software for improved asset management.

“Using a 3D model avoids misunderstanding and improves sharing, thus, everything goes smoothly and speedy,” said Yuji Nonaka, chief of the engineering department at Hirata Corporation, which provides factory production equipment to the automotive, semiconductor and consumer electronics industries. “In fact, we’ve been able to reduce review meeting times, and now we spend less than half of what we used to spend and we have saved a lot of travel expenses for overseas projects.”

Autodesk Simulation 2014 Products Integrate into Each Phase of Development Process

Autodesk Simulation CFD: Overall product performance up to 13 percent faster, and the ability to simulate free surface liquids such as sloshing, pouring, open channel flow and solid/liquid interaction; and

Product availability varies by country. Purchasing a design suite with Autodesk Subscription helps customers stay current and connected with access to the latest workflows on desktops, mobile devices and in the cloud. See details and purchasing options atwww.autodesk.com/purchaseoptions.

· New for the Premium edition of Product Design Suite 2014 is the inclusion of Autodesk Inventor Professional software, which provides mechanical and electrical engineers the functionality for complete Digital Prototyping with integrated simulation, control systems and tooling capabilities.